Seeing the Body Language of Happy Couples
Can Make Single People Feel Undeserving
Promoting love, relationships in marketing can punish sales. Showing
videos and photos of happy couples can make single people buy less. Single people
judge themselves “unworthy’ of purchases when they see photos of happy couples.
Date: March 12, 2014
Source: USC Marshall School of
Business
Summary:
The prevalent
marketing practice of highlighting relationships in advertising and promotions
can have substantial negative consequences for sales and consumers' willingness
to indulge themselves, new research indicates. The results of the study
surprisingly revealed that reminders
of romantic relationships caused single consumers to choose fewer high-end
personal care products than their coupled counterparts. But the
implications reach beyond the romantic relationship. When single consumers were
reminded of close platonic relationships, they indulged as much as coupled
individuals because singles have that type of valued relationship.
Valentine's Day has
come and gone. But those images of romance are still everywhere: a happy couple
holding hands in an eharmony ad, two lovebirds sharing a tender kiss in a Nikon
camera commercial.
Related Articles
Advertising filled
with romantic images, featuring "happy togetherness" in magazines and
stores as well as on television and websites might resonate with you if you
have a special someone. But if you're single, a new study shows you're not buying.
New research from
consumer psychologist Lisa Cavanaugh, assistant professor at the USC Marshall
School of Business, reveals how the prevalent marketing practice of
highlighting relationships in advertising and promotions can have substantial
negative consequences for sales and consumers' willingness to indulge
themselves. Cavanaugh's research is presented in "Because I (Don't)
Deserve It: How Relationship Reminders and Deservingness Influence Consumer
Indulgence," forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing Research.
Marketers regularly
remind consumers of valued social relationships -- romantic couples, close
friends and family -- in order to influence choice and consumption. Cavanaugh's
research explores an understudied influence -- relationship reminders -- and identifies
a novel factor -- perceived deservingness -- that predicts consumers'
propensity to indulge.
She found that reminding consumers of relationships they
don't have reduces their perceptions of deservingness and triggers them to
restrict their own indulgent consumption. That means they spend less money, choose lower-end brands of
products and opt for lower-calorie foods. Those effects may be particularly
profound during certain times of year, such as holidays and wedding season,
when the portrayal of relationships is especially prominent in advertisements.
"Marketers may need to rethink the prevalent
practice of using images of idealized relationships to sell everything from
cookies to cameras," Cavanaugh said, "because many consumers don't
have those relationships. By reminding people of relationships they don't have,
marketers inadvertently make consumers feel undeserving -- less worthy of
treating and rewarding themselves."
This lack of perceived
deservingness causes consumers to restrict their own indulgence across a wide
range of products. Cavanaugh's studies show that reminding consumers of
relationships they don't have, whether through a promotional email, an
advertisement or a conversation in a retail store, changes which brands they
buy. The effect on indulgence is not simply restricted to the brand or product
advertised.
"Perceived
deservingness carries over to affect subsequent choices across multiple product
categories, everything from the foods you choose to the amount of money you're
willing to spend on clothing, accessories and even personal care products
across retailers," Cavanaugh said.
With the number of
marriages at a historical low (6.8 marriages per thousand between 2009 and
2011) and less than half of all adults consumers nationwide being single, do
marketers need to be checking the relationship status of their customers on
Facebook? Should companies like J.Crew think twice before sending January email
blasts to women titled "Just got engaged?" and "Said yes?"
"By reminding
consumers of relationships they do not have, marketers may not be simply
mis-targeting but also self-handicapping," Cavanaugh said. "Marketers
may think of these relationship reminders as aspirational, that is, suggesting
that their brand or product will be able to help you achieve the type of life
you've always wanted. But in fact, the reactions of consumers I've observed in
my research tell a very different story -- relationship reminders often cause
consumers to feel undeserving and restrict indulgence. Singles need to get some
love from marketers, too."
In seven experiments,
Cavanaugh used different study designs and types of relationship reminders
(advertisements, greeting cards, magazine articles and scenarios), measured
multiple indulgent choices (personal care products, clothing and accessories)
and tested the hypotheses with student and adult populations. Her findings
demonstrate the robustness of the effect of deservingness on indulgence.
In one study conducted
during the week before Valentine's Day, each consumer viewed electronic
greeting cards that emphasized one of two close relationship types, either
romantic or platonic. Next, the participants were presented with a shopping
task, choosing from economy, mid-range or higher-end brands of lip balm,
shampoo, hand cream and fragrance. Finally, they indicated their current
relationship status.
The results
surprisingly revealed that reminders of romantic relationships caused single
consumers to choose fewer high-end personal care products than their coupled
counterparts. But the implications reach beyond the romantic relationship. When
single consumers were reminded of close platonic relationships, they indulged
as much as coupled individuals because singles have that type of valued
relationship.
Widespread images in
popular culture indicate singles are supposed to console themselves with
consumption. Who can forget the scenes from movies like "Bridget Jones'
Diary" and "Sex and the City," that show sad singles like
Bridget Jones polishing off an entire quart of ice cream or Carrie Bradshaw
drowning her single gal sorrows with some NYC retail therapy? It seems like
singles should indulge more, right? Cavanaugh says not necessarily.
"That
misconception is what makes these findings so fascinating," Cavanaugh
said. "This evidence regarding perceived deservingness as a driver of
indulgence runs counter to what existing theories and pop culture might predict
about the salience of social relationships and indulgence. It is commonly
assumed that when people lack valued relationships, they will feel lonely or
sad and indulge more, through shopping or eating. My theory and findings based
on deservingness suggest a very different pattern of behavior: Individuals
choose in ways consistent with their perceptions of deservingness."
Cavanaugh noted the
importance of distinguishing between how people feel (affective reactions) and
how they feel about themselves (deservingness). Previous studies have focused
on the former. "While perceiving oneself as less deserving may sometimes
be accompanied by negative feelings, it is the perceptions of deservingness but
not feelings or mood that most accurately predict whether indulgence
occurs," she explained.
In her report,
Cavanaugh made some specific recommendations for how marketers could improve
their impact with advertising and product placement as well as direct
marketing. When promoting indulgent products, marketers need to pay attention
to the context of their advertising and product placement in television shows
and movies. Specifically, Cavanaugh said, marketers of indulgent products may
try to skew their marketing and may fare better by placing ads or products in
shows or episodes focused on more general platonic relationships (friendships,
neighbors or co-workers) that consumers are likely to have rather than
exclusive pair relationships (romantic couples or best friends) that they may
not have.
However if marketers
know a consumer's relationship status, direct marketers could consider
systematically varying the image (romantic couple vs. platonic others) used on
a catalog cover or in a promotional email that encourages them to click through
to shop and treat themselves, Cavanaugh suggested. The study should also
provide a cautionary lesson to sales representatives who call consumers about
promotional upgrades. Telemarketers should be careful about making assumptions
or using relationship-related language or references to a spouse or kids that
may remind consumers of relationships they lack.
"Given the
prominent role that deservingness and relationships play in consumer
choice," Cavanaugh concluded, "continued research on relationships
and perceived deservingness would benefit both consumers and marketers
alike."
Story Source:
The above story is
based on materials provided by USC Marshall School of
Business. Note:
Materials may be edited for
content and length.
Journal Reference:
1. Lisa A. Cavanaugh. Because I (Don't)
Deserve It: How Relationship Reminders and Deservingness Influence Consumer
Indulgence. Journal of Marketing Research, 2014;
140111093227008 DOI: 10.1509/jmr.12.0133
Cite This Page:
USC Marshall School of
Business. "Promoting love, relationships in marketing can punish
sales." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 12 March 2014.
.
·
Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.